The beginning
by whycantifindafriknusername
Summary: Team seven's beginning, Sasuke's Oneshot/prequel to Period


What am i doing, writing a new story, when i have another to finish, you ask? Writing a new one. It won't be the last, either, so you'll just have to wait! ;)

* * *

Sasuke Uchiha knew two things about girls; they were annoying, and very,very weird.

Since the age of seven, he had been subject to the stares of almost every girl (and some guys) in his age group, and beyond. They ranged from shy, quick glances, to unabashed leers. It disgusted him immensely, but he tried not to let it bother him too much, opting instead to focus on his own affairs.

Now, at the age of twelve, and right in the cusp of manhood, the looks had increased ten-fold, and they were even so bold as to come up and ogle him right in front of his own eyes! Like they wanted him to see them as they did it!

_(Though, that was probably their whole point.)_

During the entirety of his academy days, not a moment went by without him being hit on, asked out, sent love letters, (it greatly disturbed him when he started finding them in the restroom sinks; the last thing he needed was horny teenage girls stalking him into the bathroom) or something that had to do with his fanclub.

And if that weren't enough, they started to follow him home. At first, it was only a small group of three or four of the gutsiest ones, but it quickly turned into a whole crowd of them.

Of course, there was no way in hell he was going to let those rabid freaks find out where he lived. So, he had no choice to run through the streets of Konoha like the devil was on his heels, (away from his house) to lose them.

Usually, he managed to slip away easily, but the girls were trained ninja as well, and sometimes managed to keep up with him. However, even the fittest of the lot began to tire and go home after a few hours.

Consequently, by the time he got home, (thankfully un-tracked) he was tired, sweaty, worn-out, and had less time for sleep.

_(But it counted as training, he reasoned.)_

After a while, news of his plight circulated throughout the village. No one knew where he lived, and everyone wanted to know.

Thus, began the game of Follow That Uchiha! (or so he heard people call it)

Hordes of them, and he meant _hordes_, were following him every day, and it became harder to escape.

So, after a lengthy chat with the Hokage, an audience of the the females in his year was held with the Third, and from what he heard of it, anyone caught following him would be given detention, though he didn't think that was a strict enough punishment (since it didn't stop most of them, anyways).

It was a relief to know that once he graduated, he wouldn't have to deal with as much of them. His only despair was the probability of having a female teammate (or possibly, two).

His hopes were dashed when it was announced that he did indeed, have one, and a fangirl, at that. (And a blond idiot who got on his nerves.)

She was a strange one, Sakura Haruno. (He remembered her name because she was at the top of the class, next to him; and because of her hair.)

She sat next to him in every class (marking her as one of the bold ones), but never made a move on him. She seated herself a little closer than he would have liked, and looked at him at lot, but otherwise, seemed to respect his personal space. Everyday, she politely greeted him, though he never replied, and if it bothered her, she didn't show it.

Once their team was called aloud, she straightened, and sat with a small smile on her face, her eyes full of quiet triumph.

_That night, while in the shower, he contemplated not showing up for the squad meeting the next day. _

Regardless, he could not sacrifice his goal just because of a girl. No matter how annoying she was, she was only one girl (and she didn't seem that bad, anyways).

It was ironic when he found out that he was the first one to show up at the meeting place.

Sighing, he leaned against a tree, and settled himself. Sakura showed up about five minutes later, visibly brightening when she spotted her crush. As always, she greeted him warmly and positioned herself next to him.

He neither objected nor acknowledged this, giving no sign that he even noticed her arrival.

Of course, that did not discourage her, used to his silence as she was, and she seemed perfectly content to just bask in his presence.

Both remained quiet.

This continued for while until Naruto showed up, in which he promptly proceeded to plant himself between the two in an effort to chat up Sakura. She returned his interests with a punch to the face that sent him flying a short distance. He did not try to get between her and Sasuke again.

Now that the students were present, all that was left to do was wait for their sensei. So they waited. And waited. And waited.

After three hours, they were long past irritable and testy, and were just about to head back home when there was a poof of smoke, and a silver-haired man in a jounin vest stood staring back at them.

At first, all three genin stood completely still, wondering if it was just a hallucination. When they realized that he was, in fact, real, an angry stream of outbursts exploded from Naruto and Sakura's lips. Sasuke was equally irked, but did not voice his opinion.

The jounin (who had the nerve to call himself their sensei) explained that he had gotten lost and had to ask for directions many times. (Which Naruto mumbled_ bullshit_.)

He introduced himself as Kakashi, and somehow managed to describe himself with a lot of words but very little actual information.

They were required to introduce themselves in turn, and when that was all over and done with, _Kakashi-sensei _passed out flyers to all of them, which stated the time, date and place they were to report for a survival test. Tomorrow morning, 8 o'clock sharp, third training grounds.

...

It went horrible. He actually managed to touch one of the bells, but Kakashi caught on too quickly and pulled away. After that, he couldn't get another chance to get close.

_Namely, because a certain pink-haired kunoichi decided to follow him._

But at least they passed. For a second, he'd thought they'd all failed when he'd offered Naruto his food, and Kakashi showed up all pissy, with thunder and lightning crackling behind him. But apparently not. Whatever.

Now that he was an official ninja, he could start paving the path to his goal.

...

It had been three months since the survival test, and all he had been doing since was shitty D-rank missions that consisted of de-weeding gardens and finding lost pets. This sucked. His teammates were equally miffed, but only Naruto had the gall to complain to the Hokage. Sakura berated him for it, but Sasuke could see that she secretly agreed with Naruto.

The vexations of late had united them in mutiny. He reflected over it, and realized his squad was a lot less annoying than they used to be.

He noticed Sakura did not pine over him as much as he thought she would. Though, he caught her staring at him often. She'd turn away, red-faced, but glance at him anyways when she thought he wasn't looking. At least she gave him space. That was all he asked for.

And Naruto was... well, Naruto. He was still annoying, but as of late, Sasuke found himself understanding him more and more. But there was no way in hell he would admit that out loud.

Kakashi, who was constantly late, never helped them on their 'missions', and always had his nose in his r-rated book, also had a cool side. He trained them well, kept an eye on them even outside of missions, and sometimes took them out to eat. He was an enigma, as well. Mysterious, hard to read. Always wary of his surroundings. Always ready and waiting, for whatever life threw at him. Sasuke admired these qualities.

Despite the fact they were infuriating at times, he quite enjoyed their company, after a few years on his own.

Although the life ahead of him will be fraught with hardships, danger, solitude and possible death, for now, he would pretend; that they were his family, that he wasn't alone, that he didn't have a brother to kill.

That he had a bright future ahead of him.

* * *

Wow, that last part is so angsty! I'm eating pomegranate seeds to sweeten up my mood.


End file.
